A Demon's Path Chapter 72

"Sure," Ling Xiao casually replied. It was all he said in response to her kind words of gratitude.

At this moment, a youngster stormed into Ling Xiao's residence. He spoke with a cold look on his face, "Ling Xiao, let's have a rematch!"

This wasn't just anybody. It was Li Yuanchong who had lost to Ling Xiao in the finals of the newcomers tournament. Over the past few days he would come by multiple times hooting for a rematch. Today marked his 30th attempt!

Lunatic! Ling Xiao silently cursed. He was about to kick Li Yuanchong out of his room for the umpteenth time when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes. The eagerness to fight was evident on Cheng Yu's face. He quickly suggested, "I'm sure you know my Senior Sister. She just reached the yellow rank and was just looking for a sparring partner. Why don't you fight her?" He quickly added after recalling how vicious Li Yuanchong was, "If you harm so much as half a hair on her body, don't even think I'll ever accept any of your challenges from then on out."

"Fine!" Li Yuanchong hastily agreed.

Li Yuanchong didn't believe for a second that this girl could harm him. He'd rested for two whole days without exercising his muscles. This was a good time for him to use them. All he had to do was beat this girl and he would get the opportunity for a rematch with Ling Xiao, right? With this in mind, he started sparring with Cheng Yu.

When they started, Ling Xiao took the opportunity to flee to who knows where. Li Yuanhuan was the only one left watching the match, a worried expression flooding his face. He was afraid Li Yuanchong couldn't hold back in a moment of carelessness. There would be trouble if he injured Cheng Yu!

With that in mind, Li Yuanhuan couldn't afford himself to relax if even for a moment. He had to remain vigilant at all times. But what happened next was out of his expectations. Even though the spar was very intense, neither side struck to injure or kill. They were only testing each other out.

"Heavenly Net Punch!"

"Flying Phoenix Kick!"

"Worldly Kick!"

"Hundred Rendering Strikes!"

Li Yuanhuan was baffled. What came as even more of a shock was their reactions after the fight. Both Li Yuanchong and Cheng Yu cried out sounds of gratification. They shook hands in a friendly manner and agreed to spar and compare notes the next opportunity they got.

But most of all, Li Yuanhuan never expected that Li Yuanchong would teach Cheng Yu his Three Phantom Transformations on the spot. In exchange, Cheng Yu handed her prized Northern Jade Celestial Strike Sword to Li Yuanchong.

Li Yuanchong cordially addressed Cheng Yu as Elder Sister Cheng, whereas Cheng Yu intimately addressed Li Yuanchong as Younger Brother Yuanchong.

Li Yuanhuan shook his head with all his might. W-what's going on? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? These two didn't really know each other. Yet after only a single round of sparring, they seemed like the closest of friends! Li Yuanhuan suddenly figured something out and couldn't help himself from smiling. Li Yuanchong and Cheng Yu were like two chickens from the same egg. The both of them disliked dealing with people, they were arrogant and liked cultivating, and most importantly they loved to fight. This was reason enough for them to become friends at first sight.

Ling Xiao was hiding to the side, peeping on their match. He finally let out a sigh when it was all over. Finally! It seems that annoying kid won't bother me again anytime soon! Wait. He won't come looking for me to spar when we're waging war on the Demonic Clan, right?! And when we return home and I can finally go home to the Northern Jade Sect slapping my butt, he won't go so far as to chase after me, right?!

Ling Xiao was counting his chickens before they hatched as he complacently hummed the folk songs the young ladies from the Floating Red Courtyard sang. Off he went for a stroll. They would leave for Seadragon City the next day, and he wanted to roam around the residences of each and every Elder in the Sunken Wind Valley before then.

Even though the Elders were averagely old enough to be Ling Xiao's brother-in-law, they treated him with the affection shown to one's biological father.

"Elder Ling, these are high quality tea leaves my disciple brought back from Great Jade Mountain."

"Elder Ling, please kindly accept this chunk of platinum. It can be used as the base material to forge a powerful weapon."

"Elder Ling, my daughter just turned 16 this year. She's a beauty exceeding that of the natural world, captivating even the birds and beasts. Her devastating beauty can cause the downfall of a city, a state even!"

Elders feverently gave Ling Xiao gifts wherever he went. He looked like a blooming flower, grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you, thank you everyone!"

Ling Xiao was naturally the most popular person in the Sunken Wind Valley right now. Other than the girl who wasn't even half as beautiful as the Elder made her out to be, Ling Xiao kept all the presents in the purse strapped around his waist.

Before long, Ling Xiao unwittingly arrived at a secluded area. A large, wide pavilion towered halfway up a moss green mountain. A clean path wound and snaked its way up to the entrance.

Ling Xiao looked into the distance at the pavilion. A board hung on the door on which he could faintly make out the words: Bright Moon Pavilion. The door was tightly shut as though it was rejecting anyone from even approaching it.

"Bright Moon Pavilion? Shen Mingfang is staying in a place like this?" Ling Xiao wondered, an uncomfortable feeling washing over him. Even though the appearance of the pavilion looked especially elegant from the outside, the air around it gave Ling Xiao a sort of desolate feeling. He didn't like this silence that resembled death.

Ling Xiao subconsciously walked along the trail up to the pavilion. But two people immediately stopped him at the intersection, blocking him from proceeding any further. They wore grey masks, a clear indicator they were part of the main force suppressing the rebellion three days ago.

"This is Miss Shen's residence. Those unrelated to her are not allowed to disturb her. Elder Ling, please leave." The voice was thick with hostility and perfectly matched the desolate feeling wafting through the area.

Ling Xiao squinted his eyes, but didn't say anything as he turned around and left. Are they protecting Shen Mingfang, or monitoring her? The people from the Sunken Wind Valley are really strange! Ling Xiao thought to himself. He knew he was worried for nothing. It wasn't his place to stick his nose in matters relating to Shen Mingfang or Shen Nanfeng. Besides, he still had to kill Shen Nanfeng in order to undo the poison soul oath.

I wonder how it'll be then, fighting Shen Mingfang… Ling Xiao violently shook his head. He banished all thoughts that were of no use for the time being from his mind. He could ponder on them when the time came.

Who knew how long it'd be before he had the strength to challenge Shen Nanfeng. Either way, the most important thing to him were the current affairs. As such, Ling Xiao returned to his abode and finished his preparations. All he was waiting for now was for the next day to come so he could depart with Shen Xuan and the rest of the group to exterminate demons in Seadragon City.

…

The location of the Blue Moon District was shrouded in mystery. Even though people knew the Blue Moon District produced pill cultivators and also knew how to contact them, no one knew where it was.

Many pill cultivators left the Blue Moon District, but none of them could freely return; they simply didn't know how to. Only when the Master of the Blue Moon District summoned them could they find the entrance.

Elder Hua who was preparing to depart for the Seven Devils Cult received the Master of the Blue Moon District's summon. He returned to the Blue Moon District and walked into the main hall which was thick with a primitive aura.

The hall resembled a huge tree hole formed by nature itself. The chairs were large tree stumps, whereas the curtains were naturally drooping tree branches.

A very old man sat on the chair in the middle of the main hall. He was wearing a straw hat and was cloaked in dark green leaves from head to toe. The texture of his skin was like a tree bark. He matched his surroundings exceptionally well.

If a normal person saw him, they would mistake him for a lonely old lunatic, growing old without children or grandchildren. But he was currently seated in the middle of the main hall. No one dared to hold any contemptuous thoughts toward him, including Hua Que who had played the Sunken Wind Valley in the palm of his hands.

The old man's eyes were closed. It was like he was resting. He didn't move one bit, nor did Hua Que dare to. He didn't even dare to inhale audibly. The old man finally opened his eyes some time later and looked at Hua Que with a still gaze. "Hua Que, I heard a youngster dispelled the poison you concocted."

"Yes, Master," came Hua Que's respectful replied.

A strange, faint smile appeared on the old man's face. "His strength isn't comparable to yours, is it?"

Cold sweat drenched Hua Que's head. "I heard he's only a red ranked Celestial Soul Master-" Suddenly having recalled something, Hua Que quickly explained, "But five green ranked Elemental Celestial Soul Masters helped him light the fire when he concocted the antidote."

Hua Que's heart violently quivered in fear when he saw the expressionless look on this old man's face. He knew the outcome for those who humiliated his Master's sect was death. With the grand move Ling Xiao made, none of them had any face left.

Hua Que originally wanted to capture Ling Xiao and torture some answers out of him if he got the chance to before offering Ling Xiao to his Master. But he never expected news to travel so fast.

Shen Nanfeng promoted Ling Xiao to such a high position that it was impossible for the Blue Moon District to be left unaware of what transpired. Especially so with the connections they had.

Hua Que knew of his Master's dignity. He didn't dare beg for anything, so he quickly knelt down on the ground and said with all sincerity, "Master, I beg you. Please kill your disciple."

"There's something strange about this boy. He ought to be using the lost techniques from the ancient Heavenly Medicine Sect to concoct medicine," said the Master of the Blue Moon District.

Hua Que kowtowed, thanking his master for the favour. "Many thanks to Master for sparing my life."

"I'll give you three days. If you can't bring him back, you don't need to come back." The Master of the Blue Moon District closed his eyes once more. It seemed as though he'd fallen into an endless sleep.

Chapter end